Midsummer's Bottom is one of my Darren Dash books for adults, but it's much lighter than any other adult novel that I've published -- a risque, fantastical, Shakespearean-inspired comedy! It goes on sale on June 21st. This is the 50th book that I have published. I wasn't sure what readers would make of it, given how different it is to the rest of my body of work, but the early reviews have been incredibly positive. Here are some snippets:

"Dash's signature wit and humor shine on every page... magical escapism at its best... Midsummer's Bottom is a laugh out loud comedy, a rollicking romp that will leave you with a warm, satisfied feeling long after you finish." Rachel Hobbs, author -- 5 star review.

"It is comedic, a little hectic, and the strength of its rich cast keeps things moving at a delightfully entertaining pace... this unique tale is that rare reimagination of elements of a classic story that captures all the comedy, drama, and emotional satisfaction of its original and in some ways exceeds them." US Review of Books -- Recommended read.

"Midsummer's Bottom delights with Shakespearian couplets and a cacophony of human foibles that smash up to a satisfying ending. Dash has created a stellar cast of full, engaging characters. Tightly-written and imaginative, Midsummer's Bottom glides the reader through a wonderful story towards a rewarding, and unexpected, end." Self-Publishing Review.

"Midsummer's Bottom is a delightful book with the lyrical words of the bard and the theme of his magical work intertwined into the story line. Mr Dash is an accomplished wordsmith and brings the chaos to the sort of satisfying finale that, had I been in a theatre, I would have stood to applaud." Readers' Favorite -- 5 star review.

You can also find an entry for Midsummer's Bottom on Goodreads, and to my delight it's been picking up lots of great early feedback from readers there too: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39929208-midsummer-s-bottom

Midsummer's Bottom will be on sale as a paperback or eBook across all Amazon stores worldwide. Click on the following link to be directed to the eBook in YOUR local store (the paperback link will follow next month): http://getbook.at/midsummersebook

As I stated above, my new Darren Dash book for older readers, Midsummer's Bottom, will be going on sale on June 21st. I am still submitting advance eCopies to reviewers. If any of you are bloggers who write book reviews, or if you write for a book review site or publication, or even if you just publish lots of reviews on a site like Amazon or Goodreads... if you fall into any of the above categories, and would be interested in being sent an advance copy of the eBook (in Mobi format unless otherwise requested) then drop me a line using the Contact form on my Darren Dash web site: http://www.darrendashbooks.com/

I can't guarantee that I can send an advance copy to everyone who contacts me, but please include info about where you would normally post a review, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If the luck of the fairies if with you, you could be one of a select few who get to read it before the rest of the world!

Midsummer's Bottom is a light-hearted fantastical Comedy, in the spirit of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. (Only much easier for a modern audience to follow!) If you want to find out a bit more about it, to determine if it's a story you might be interested in, check out its Amazon summary here: http://getbook.at/midsummersebook

SLAWTERED BRIDE!

This photo was sent to me by a fan called Ally. It was taken on her wedding day, while she was waiting for her husband, and to pass the time she decided to read one of my books -- Slawter, if I'm any judge! That's the first time I've ever heard from one of my fans who's done that -- I would have thought a bride's nerves would be shaky enough on the day of her big wedding, without flicking through the pages of one of my more horrific offerings! Ally is obviously made of stronger stuff than most blushing brides -- or maybe she was just looking for ideas of demons she could feed her husband to if he made any mistakes during the ceremony!

COVERED!

I think I might have linked to this before, but a fan spotted it online recently and brought it to my attention, so I figured I'd share it with everyone again (assuming I *have* shared it before!). It's a list of 50 very cool book covers, and one of my books features among them. Which book? And which edition? To find out, you'll have to  CLICK HERE. See if you can guess before you look -- but no cheating!

 A SHADY REVIEW

Before I started releasing my books for adults under the name of Darren Dash, I released four of them under the Darren Shan banner. (Against my better judgment. My publishers convinced me to do it, and while it meant that the books certainly sold more copies than they would have if they hadn't been published as Darren Shan books, I never felt easy about it.) The last of those was Lady Of The Shades, which is probably my most twist-packed stand-alone book -- if you can predict where the story is going to go by the end of the first 50 or 100 or even 200 pages, then you're the possessor of a mind as cunning and devious as mine!!! 

Lady Of The Shades is the most commercial of my adult novels, and was optioned by a film producer a few years ago. That didn't come to anything, but there's still interest in it, so hopefully it will get adapted one day.

Anyway, rather than take MY word for how good it is (I am, of course, rather biased in these matters!) there was a brand new review for the book recently, on a site called Chatterday, so why don't you CLICK HERE to find out what the reviewer thought of it: 

GETTING FREAKY WITH IT!

Cirque Du Freak was first published in January 2000, almost eighteen and a half years ago, and it's taken that long for me to finally get a letter that I'd been hoping for ever since it came out -- someone who had been inspired by my book to join a freak show!! Let's hear from Dan, who wrote to me a few weeks back:

"So this is gonna seem random but I wanted to reach out to say thank you. Cirque du Freak had a huge influence on my future and I didn't even know it as a kid. I read the series from about 12 years old to whenever you finished it, I'm 26 now.... And a professional sideshow freak, not even joking. Whenever people ask me how I got into the circus (and a dark circus at that) I tell them about your books and how I never fell for Harry Potter, I always had the freak show. So, as an adult, thank you for teaching me to follow my own path, that's it's okay to be afraid, but to never let that stop you."

Dan sent me a YouTube clip of himself in action, which you can check out by CLICKING HERE

What do you think? Would he make a good addition to the Cirque Du Freak?!? Should I pass on his details to Mr Tall?!?!?

DISAPPOINTED

As I said last month, the Cirque Du Freak movie is currently being show on Netflix in the USA. It's a film that divides viewers. People who hadn't read my books tended to enjoy it more than those who were familiar with my work, as it deviated massively from the story that I had outlined in my novels. Surprisingly, the changes didn't depress or annoy or enrage me as much as they depressed and annoyed and enraged some of my fans -- I knew from reading the script in advance that it was going to be VERY different, so by the time I saw it, I'd resigned myself to the fact that this wasn't going to be MY story, but rather a film only loosely based on my story. That allowed me to watch it as a separate entity, more objectively than I had anticipated, and yeah, while it's by no means a perfect movie, I thought it was a quirky and unusual little film, and I enjoyed it for what it was, without mourning too much for what it might have (and should have) been.

While I can be very sanguine about the movie, I appreciate that some Shansters don't share my view of it. You guys who were here before Hollywood got involved wanted a faithful, dark, emotionally moving adaptation, and instead you got a much lighter, looser story, with a lot more humour than you'll ever find in a Darren Shan novel. I'd argue that it's not as bad as some of you claim -- I think your love for my books has blinded you to the film's positive points -- but I respect your views and won't try to change your minds. In that spirit, here's an article that was written recently about the film, by a fan of the books who is still hurting by what the movie industry did to them. Haters of the movie -- enjoy!!! 

DISAPPPOINTING ADAPTATIONS

Oh, and while I stand by my view of the film, I do agree that the scene in the coffin was poorly judged -- they took what should have been a very sobering moment and made a joke of it.

IT'S A WRAP!